University Place Elementary Principal Deron Cameron leaving, accepts position with Tuscaloosa County system

University Place Elementary principal Deron Cameron speaks to guests during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly rebuilt University Place Elementary School in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Friday, Aug. 16, 2013. University Place was destroyed in the April 27, 2011 tornado.

Dusty Compton | The Tuscaloosa News

By Jamon SmithStaff Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

Published: Friday, October 18, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 6:12 p.m.

The Tuscaloosa County Board of Education on Thursday approved University Place Elementary School principal Deron Cameron as one of the system’s three new directors of curriculum and instruction.

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Cameron has served as principal of University Place for more than seven years. He led the school when it was nearly destroyed by the April 27, 2011, tornado and has been at its helm through its two-year recovery and reopening this school year.

He was instrumental in making University Place the first fully accredited STEAM school in the world and getting enrollment opened at the school this year so that every elementary school-aged student in the city could attend there.

The STEAM curriculum is used to teach all subjects at University Place. It focuses on math, science and engineering taught through project-based learning.

Cameron couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday evening.

Tuscaloosa County Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Swinford said they were thrilled to hire Cameron.

“We feel that he is a good match for our school system,” Swinford said. “He has the ability to look at data the same way that we do. Looking at it in order to drive decisions. He’s also personable. He’s the kind of person that can come in and immediately win the trust of our principals, teachers, our community and bring everyone together to continue moving a region — whichever region he’s assigned to — forward.

“We also felt that his knowledge of curriculum and instruction is pretty vast, and he would just be a great match for our school system in whatever cluster we place him.”

Swinford said Cameron will join Amanda Cassity and Kathy Hilliker as the three directors of curriculum and instruction who will lead the system’s newly formed northern, southern and eastern clusters.

The directors will supervise principals at the schools in their clusters, be responsible for the curriculum and the professional development of employees.

The northern cluster will include Tuscaloosa County High, Northside High and all the elementary and middle schools that feed into those two schools. The southern cluster will include Hillcrest High, Sipsey Valley High and their feeder schools. The eastern cluster will include Holt High, Brookwood High and the schools that feed into them.

It hasn’t been decided which cluster Cameron will lead yet, Swinford said.

Before Cameron can begin working for the Tuscaloosa County School System, Swinford said he’ll have to turn in his resignation to the Tuscaloosa City School System and negotiate how he can get out of his contract.

In other news, the county board approved Northside High School principal David Patrick as the new director of federal programs, a position the board created Aug. 26. The board also approved the first reading of a newly created director of career technical education position.

Swinford said the director of career technical education is an upgrade to the coordinator of career technical education position that already existed in the system.

The change was made because the workload for the position is too much for a coordinator, she said. A switch from a coordinator to a director position brings with it a pay increase of between $5,000 and $10,000, she said.

<p>The Tuscaloosa County Board of Education on Thursday approved University Place Elementary School principal Deron Cameron as one of the system's three new directors of curriculum and instruction.</p><p>Cameron has served as principal of University Place for more than seven years. He led the school when it was nearly destroyed by the April 27, 2011, tornado and has been at its helm through its two-year recovery and reopening this school year.</p><p>He was instrumental in making University Place the first fully accredited STEAM school in the world and getting enrollment opened at the school this year so that every elementary school-aged student in the city could attend there.</p><p>The STEAM curriculum is used to teach all subjects at University Place. It focuses on math, science and engineering taught through project-based learning.</p><p>Cameron couldn't be reached for comment Thursday evening.</p><p>Tuscaloosa County Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Swinford said they were thrilled to hire Cameron.</p><p>“We feel that he is a good match for our school system,” Swinford said. “He has the ability to look at data the same way that we do. Looking at it in order to drive decisions. He's also personable. He's the kind of person that can come in and immediately win the trust of our principals, teachers, our community and bring everyone together to continue moving a region — whichever region he's assigned to — forward.</p><p>“We also felt that his knowledge of curriculum and instruction is pretty vast, and he would just be a great match for our school system in whatever cluster we place him.”</p><p>Swinford said Cameron will join Amanda Cassity and Kathy Hilliker as the three directors of curriculum and instruction who will lead the system's newly formed northern, southern and eastern clusters.</p><p>The directors will supervise principals at the schools in their clusters, be responsible for the curriculum and the professional development of employees.</p><p>The northern cluster will include Tuscaloosa County High, Northside High and all the elementary and middle schools that feed into those two schools. The southern cluster will include Hillcrest High, Sipsey Valley High and their feeder schools. The eastern cluster will include Holt High, Brookwood High and the schools that feed into them.</p><p>It hasn't been decided which cluster Cameron will lead yet, Swinford said.</p><p>Before Cameron can begin working for the Tuscaloosa County School System, Swinford said he'll have to turn in his resignation to the Tuscaloosa City School System and negotiate how he can get out of his contract.</p><p>In other news, the county board approved Northside High School principal David Patrick as the new director of federal programs, a position the board created Aug. 26. The board also approved the first reading of a newly created director of career technical education position.</p><p>Swinford said the director of career technical education is an upgrade to the coordinator of career technical education position that already existed in the system.</p><p>The change was made because the workload for the position is too much for a coordinator, she said. A switch from a coordinator to a director position brings with it a pay increase of between $5,000 and $10,000, she said.</p><center><p>*****************</p><p><i>Reach Jamon Smith at <a href="mailto:jamon.smith@tuscaloosanews.com">jamon.smith@tuscaloosanews.com</a> or 205-722-0204.&nbsp;</i></p><p><div class="fb-like" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/tuscnews" data-send="false" data-layout="button_count" data-width="200" data-show-faces="false" data-font="tahoma"></div><i>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/tuscnews">Tuscaloosa News coverage on Facebook</a></i></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/JamonSmith" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-size="large">Follow @JamonSmith</a><script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');</script>&nbsp; <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?screen_name=JamonSmith" class="twitter-mention-button" data-size="large" data-related="tuscaloosanews">Tweet to @JamonSmith</a><script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');</script></p></center>